1 85 5. PROFESSORSHIP OF TECHNOLOGY. 277 



Edinburgh Town Council, and the proposal brought by 

 the Board of Trade before Government. Dr. Wilson made 

 no solicitations, and merely expressed willingness to accept 

 such an appointment, should it be made. 



To Dr. Cairns he writes : " It will bring with it, I hope, 

 some bodily rest, although it does not add to my wealth or 

 diminish my responsibility ; and I know too well that this 

 world must be to every wise man a scene of struggle, and 

 to every humble man a place of sorrow, to expect that I 

 shall have less of its cares or woes than before. With 

 unfeigned sincerity I can say that I have rejoiced at the 

 prospect of serving my Saviour more and better through 

 the influence it may give me, and the prayer is often on my 

 lips, and oftener in my heart, that I may be made bold and 

 wise enough to confess Him before men. 



"I see so many of my scientific and literary friends 

 devoured by the cares of the world, and fretted by its little 

 troubles, that I tremble lest I too become a selfish, scheming 

 worldling. Only God's grace, I know, can keep me un- 

 spotted from the world ; but it can, and your prayers will not 

 be wanting, that so long as I have a place in this world I 

 may be kept from the evil that is in it. 



" I wish I could visit you ; but it may not be. My duties 

 will seriously begin on October ist, for I have my laboratory 

 still to keep going, and to gather wonders for my museum 

 from the four quarters of heaven." 



The same desire is expressed at the close of a long 

 chemical letter to Dr. Gladstone : " As for the Chair, I 

 trust and pray that it will increase my power to serve my 

 blessed Lord and Master." His appointment was welcomed 

 with unqualified delight by the public generally. One of 

 the periodicals of the time remarks : " The formation of 

 the Industrial Museum would in fact have been a matter of 



